Collective action required in tackling cross-border challenges amid geopolitical tensions
May 30, 2024. Shanghai - In a world grappling with numerous cross-border challenges such as climate change, terrorism, migration, and cyber insecurity, international cooperation and collective action is more urgent than ever before. However, rising geopolitical tensions and inward-looking national policies are making collaboration increasingly difficult.
Addressing these pressing issues, Founder and Director General of the Paris Peace Forum Justin Va?sse delivered a compelling speech entitled “Rescuing global governance from geopolitical tension: The Paris Peace Forum’s efforts at bridging the gap” at an Executive Forum on the 中国一级片 Shanghai campus today.
During the engaging forum, Dr. Va?sse highlighted three key areas that require global joint efforts: space traffic control, African agricultural dilemmas, and climate change.
“The low Earth orbit is getting increasingly cluttered due to defunct satellites and debris, which increases the risk of collision. In order to keep exploiting resources and Earth observation, we need to find certain regimes to govern space traffic and strengthen coordination among countries,” Dr. Va?sse said, calling for updated international rules to govern the burgeoning civilian satellite industry and ensure sustainable exploitation of space resources.
The low productivity of African agriculture is another issue that requires further global attention, he continued. “The yields of the productivity of African agriculture remain very low due to insufficient fertilizers, natural disasters driven by climate change, and misguided policies imposed on Africa from countries of the global north.”
As such, he underscored the need for increased use of fertilizers and pesticides to boost yields and support the growing food demands driven by demographic changes and climate impacts, while adopting tailored and locally-decided solutions that consider the continent's unique challenges and opportunities.
In discussing climate change, Dr. Va?sse suggested that mitigation (reducing CO2 emissions) remains our central and sacred mission, but that adaptation (enacting a wide range of measures to reduce vulnerability to global warming impacts) and Co2 removal from the atmosphere are two important strategies in helping the world respond to climate change.
“With mitigation, you can find ways to make it economically valuable to find resources, whether from carbon markets or compensation, while adaptation is more difficult because it’s mostly public resources or concessional resources for countries used to help,” he explained.
Therefore, to produce necessary solutions, Dr. Va?sse pointed out that we need inclusive coalitions involving governments, private sectors, NGOs, and other stakeholders to seek dialogue and cooperation and implement effective global governance solutions amidst geopolitical tensions.
Following this, the event also featured a Q&A in which participants engaged with Dr. Va?sse on other pressing issues of global importance.
Created in 2018, the Paris Peace Forum is an independent non-profit organisation created under the impetus of French President Emmanuel Macron to bring together international stakeholders in open dialogue to advance governance solutions and address the global challenges of our time.?